“It’s fine, it’s got a little ding, no crack, thank you, Ceramic Shield,” Dallen Frutchey, 18, from Virginia, said about the accidental drop just ahead of moving his data to his new iPhone 18 Pro Max. This is his fourth time attending one of Apple’s Fifth Avenue store openings, where he had met prior CEO Tim Cook a number of times. At today’s event, he got a selfie with Ternus just before the phone drop.

“I’m excited to have someone who is down in the details with the products working on things now,” Frutchey said, wearing a blue sweater that matched his new glacier blue phone.

The very first person to come out of the Apple store — Harry Sun, 21, from New Jersey — walked out with a burgundy phone while wearing a Believe pin from the Apple TV show Ted Lasso. Eric Morgan, the second person in line, came all the way from Guatemala. He was buying several phones for his family, who also made the trip but were staying at their hotel, away from the iPhone launch-day madness.

The glacier blue hue appeared to be an early crowd favorite at this store, and Apple’s flagship location had a number of visible changes to mark the occasion. The outside of the store had a color blend of burgundy along with that shade of blue — giving no love to the more traditional silver and black color variants that are also available for the 18 Pro and Pro Max.

Inside, the Apple store took on more of a party vibe as it filled with the crowds that had been waiting outside. A DJ booth spinning Lady Gaga songs blasted in front of a large blue carpet area that served as a showroom for the new phones, as well as the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4.

At the opposite end of the store, without many passersby, a small photography exhibit featuring photos taken on the iPhone 18 Pro was on display in an area that formerly served as the Apple HomePod demo area. We will see over the next few months whether new products will take over that real estate, since today’s event also marks a shift in how Apple conducts its iPhone launches.

Apple’s set to do at least one more store launch like this when the iPhone Duo goes on sale on Oct. 23 — marking the company’s first entry into the foldable phone space. It’s also rumored to be launching a number of new home entertainment products, with the decreased floor space for the HomePod possibly hinting at a relaunch of the speaker now that the new Siri AI assistant is rolling out to the iPhone 15 Pro and later.

And that’s not to mention the rumors hinting that a non-Pro iPhone 18 and an iPhone Air sequel may be set up for a spring launch, anchoring what could be a new annual launch event early in the year to contrast with premium phones coming later in Apple’s typical September window.

So while this is the first iPhone launch under Ternus, it’s likely that several more of these are to come over the next year.

Bridget Carey contributed to this story.

Mike Sorrentino

Senior Editor

Mike Sorrentino is a Senior Editor for Mobile, covering phones, texting apps and smartwatches — obsessing about how we can make the most of them. Mike also keeps an eye out on the movie and toy industry, and outside of work enjoys biking and pizza making.

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